Latin Power Players: Kate Ramos

Kate Ramos has responsibility for all of Live Nation's national Latin tours of arena and amphitheater acts. In the past 12 months, these have most notably included Shakira and Luis Miguel, who are exclusively represented by Live Nation. Miguel was the top-grossing Latin act for the past 12 months-with 27 shows and a gross of $14.7 million, according to Billboard Boxscore, while Chayanne, who Live Nation co-promoted with Cardenas Marketing Network-was second with 19 performances and a gross of $11.9 million. Shakira was third with 10 shows and a gross of $10.8 million.

Although Latin touring has been affected by economic concerns, Ramos' business has been strong as she focuses on acts able to play at least 10 dates. "Sometimes less is better, and our year has been busy," she says.

Booking the right tour at the right price has been Ramos' main concern at a time when the economy in general and the Hispanic marketplace in particular have been hard-hit. Live Nation's upcoming Haciendo Historia tour, for example (produced in tandem with CMN), will feature co-headliners Marco Antonio Solís and Ana Gabriel at an affordable price.

"The audience gets double the value without double the price," says Ramos, who has also presented shows by Maná, Juanes and Marc Anthony, among others. "The next 12 months are all about offering entertainment that people will enjoy without it costing an arm and a leg." This means some tours may be left on the table, but, Ramos says, "the trick for the future is to buy right."

Billboard.biz Extras:

Quote: "It's awesome to not only work in a job that I love but get rewarded for it too."

Advice to future Latin Power Players: "Be open to all ideas and never think that you know everything. You can learn something new every day."